Fire-hydrant guard



.K July 14, 1931. .1. .1. cAHlLl. ETAL I 1,814,664

FIRE HYDRANT GUARD Filed Dec. 16, 1929 X37/gj.

Patented July 14, 1931 A' UNITD; STATES PATENT oFFicE f lJOHN 1T. ,CAI-HILL,` OF MALDEN, AND GEORGE R. CARGILL, OF MEDFORD,

ff Y- MASSl-`tCHUSIE'II"IS nI1in-HYnanna: GUARD i Application Vfiled. December 16, 1929. Serial No. 414,434.

Our present invention relates to guards and more particularly to a guard for fire-hydrants for the prevention of damage to the hydrant by accidental contact with'vehicles etc.

Fire-hydrants', as commonly used on sidewalks adjacent the curb consist of a cast-iron housing which is set in a concrete bed in the ground and which surrounds the valvel rod which opens and closes the water pipes below 1o the surface of the ground. Hydrants are usually placed apart at intervals varying in distance according to the congestion of the community and lire hazards of the particular location, and occasionally they are the victims of accident due to collision with motor vehicles that accidently run into them and break the casings causing much inconvenience and actual lire hazard as it is necessary to shut oli the water supply while repairs are being made. ReplacingV one of these hydrant casings is' not a simple matter as many hours work is necessary not to mention the heavy expense to the town or city, and during this time that particular locality is without lire protection, and this is especially true where hydrants are located a considerable distance apart.` Our present invention is designed to obviate this difficulty.

Therefore, our principal object is an improved guard for lire-hydrants and the like;

Another object is a guard forfire-hydrants which is of a resilient character;

Another object is a guard of the character described which may be removed instantly and easily when it is necessary for the lire department to make use of the hydrant, as in the case of tire in the locality.

ln the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of our invention,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a hydrant with a guard around it;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof, but showing the bumper partially in cross-section.

y Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates a lire-hydrant somewhat in diagrammatic form and having a series of water connections 11 located about the casing. These water connections 11 may vary in position up to ninety 50 degrees from the center, the present showing being set at forty-live degrees At either side of the hydrant 10 at a point toward the rear are'located bumpers 12, the outer casing of which is comprised of a channel iron 13 anchored in` a concrete base 14 imbedded in the ground and of suflicient depth to insure rigidity against a heavy side thrust. At the ground line of the channel 13 and connected to the channel 13 is small transversechannel 15 upon which rests and slides an inverted angle plate 16 having an inturned foot piece 17 Vadapted to rest and slide upon the small channel 15, the top of said angleplate 16 being adapted to slide over the back of the channel 13 that portion of the channel 13 being cutaway for the purpose which allows the outside top edge of the channel 13 to line up with the top surface of the angle plate 16 as indicatedin the various views in the drawings. Y

At intervals along the perpendicular side of the angle plate 16 are located rods 18 having hooked upturned ends 19 located on the outside of the vsaid angle plate 16. Collars 2O are located on either side of the angle plate 16 and aroundthe 'rods 18 at the point at which they pass through the plate 16, and theentire joint comprising the plate, rods 18, and'co'llarsQO are solidly welded together. The opposite end of theA rods 18 pass through enlarged openings located in the back of the channel 13, as shown in Fig. 3,Y and are provided witlrthreads 22 over which lock nuts 23 are placed. Located between the back of the channel 13 and the inner face of the angle plate 16 are compression springs 25 which are always in compression even when fully expanded as shown in Fig. 3 due to the 'fact that the nuts 23 maintain them in a normally n over the hooks 19. The bars 30 are Connected together at either end and the center by vertical straps 33 for the purpose of holding all the bars 30 in rigid assembly together in one unit. l

In operation, when a vehicle strikes the bars 30, at their center or to oneside of the center, the entire unit presses against the plates 16 causing the plate 16 to slide inward in the channel 13 thereby compressing the springs 25 and easing up the blow which in most cases is sufficient to prevent the hydrant from being damaged as most damage is done from vehicles backing up onto the hydrant or from side swiping it wi-th the body of the vehicles. It will be noted that either one or both of the bumper units 12 may be in use at one' time depending on the angle at which the blow comes.

In case of fire and the fire department desiring to use the hydrant to connect up water hose lines, it is only necessary to lift the unit comprising the bars 30 off of the hooks 19 and toss it to one side and to reseat it again after the use of the hydrant is discontinued either operation requiring only a few seconds of time as there are no screws, nuts or other connections to consume time. Ii' desired, a chain may be welded to the bars 30 and attached to the unit 1Q which may be the handi-y est. In actual use, the unit comprising the bars 30 would be too heavy for small children to remove and therefore no annoyance from this source would be likely to occur.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new, is:

l1. In a guard for fire-hydrants and the like, a. buffer set at either side and to the rear of said hydrant, said buiiers anchored in the ground and set at angles converging toward each other on an apex located on the street side of said hydrant, said buii'er further comprising a channel vertically located with the open side adjacent the street, an inverted angle plate adapted to fit in the open side and over the open top of said channel and adapted to slide within said channel the bottom of said plate turned inwardly and adapted to rest and slide on a channel transversally attached within the first said channel at a point adjacent the ground line of said irst channel, upturned hook rods rigidly attached to the vertical side of said angle plate adapted to loosely journal through the back of said first channel and provided with check nuts threaded on the ends of said hook rods, internal compression springs located around said rods within said buffer either end of said springs contacting with the back of said first channel member and the said angle plate for the purpose of providing resiliency therebetween, a series of horizontal bumper bars provided with loops at either end adapted to it over the said hook rods located on the outside of said angle plate,

vertical straps located on said bars adapted to bind them into one unit, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a guard for fire-hydrants and the like comprising a series of semi-circular horizontal bars partially surrounding said hydrant, buffers comprising vertically located channels located in the ground to the rear and at one side of said hydrant, said channel adapted to receive a compressibleplate maintained in compression by means of compression springs located within said channel and between' said channel back and said plate, means for attaching said bars to said plate for the purpose of transmitting lateral forces thereto.

In testimony whereof We have aixed our signatures.

JOHN J. CAHILL. GEORGE R. CARGILL.

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